Chapter 265: The Isolated Time Dragon

"Thank you, Alice, that was a beautiful fight—you woke me up for real."

Dorothy gently embraced Alice, who was already beginning to dissolve into light, and whispered softly into her sister's ear.

She had to admit she'd gotten a bit cocky; after fighting too many uphill battles, suddenly facing an overwhelming one had thrown her off-balance. She'd lost her old caution, her methodical pacing, and instead grown overly reliant on raw firepower, underestimating her opponent far too much.

In the past, she'd never have given Alice a chance to stab her in the back—she'd have kept firing until the entire arena was reduced to ash. Yet just now, she'd even posed, refusing to look back at the explosion, nearly getting herself killed by her own showboating.

"Sigh, I never thought my silly little sister would turn so devious—now she's learned to strike from the shadows. Honestly, I'm actually relieved."

When Alice had fully dissolved in her arms, Dorothy stood up, thinking to herself.

The little witch's plan had almost succeeded—if only she hadn't just learned Time Stop.

At the very instant the divine spear was fired, Dorothy's intuition screamed in alarm; the threat of death focused her awareness like never before. In that moment, she saw her own future—pierced clean through and dead.

Without time to think, Dorothy immediately cast the newly learned forbidden spell: Time Stop.

Accompanied by the incantation she'd coined herself—"Za Warudo"—the terrifying power of the forbidden spell descended instantly.

Just like when she cast Fireball, a guiding consciousness now directed her how to release this forbidden spell—but this time, the guidance path was a billion times more complex than the Fireball's.

Most crucially, Dorothy truly didn't know this spell at all—she was a complete beginner at Time Stop. So she could only follow the guidance, unlike with Fireball, where she'd discarded the guiding will and acted on her own.

But could this damn guiding will hurry up a bit? This is life or death—I'll be dead before you finish guiding me!

With her mind sharply focused, Dorothy clearly saw the crimson spear, like a falling meteor, hurtling toward her at incredible speed.

Light speed is roughly 300,000 km/s, and her distance from Alice was under 10 km—there wasn't even enough time to describe for casting; it was effectively zero.

Fortunately, the forbidden spell's power activated the moment casting began—not only upon completion.

From the instant Dorothy started casting, the flow of time in her vision slowed. As her casting progressed, the Gungnir spear visibly decelerated before her eyes.

But even so, with the current guidance speed, it was still too slow—she couldn't complete the spell before being pierced.

"Faster! Faster! Can you even guide properly? You call yourself highly experienced?"

In that moment, under immense pressure, Dorothy stopped suppressing her Fairy King's nature. She maintained perfect synchronization with the guiding will while furiously venting her frustration.

In the mage's casting state—similar to "summoning a deity"—the guiding will clearly heard the Seeing Zhai Zhai Wuhun 's inner voice.

Thus, seemingly annoyed, the guiding will suddenly accelerated—from 1x to 10x speed.

Dorothy could faintly sense the guiding will's simple thought: "I'm angry. You're done for."

The will was truly irritated—it wanted to see this arrogant witch humiliated.

But to be fair, the owner of this guiding will was undoubtedly a kind-hearted witch, for even in this tantrum, the will still circled the mana flow, constantly preventing catastrophic mana backlash from casting failure.

After all, failure consequences were severe—especially mana backlash from a failed forbidden spell, which could truly kill.

Dorothy keenly sensed this. Though she wasn't particularly afraid of dying in the arena, she still appreciated the will's goodwill.

"Sorry, my tone was bad—but I'm really in a hurry. Can you go even faster?"

As she mentally apologized, Dorothy effortlessly matched the 10x guidance with her mana.

After all, her mana precision was S-rank, and with all four thought streams active now, this speed boost was nothing.

In just a few fleeting moments, the crimson spear was less than 3 km away—she had to urge it to accelerate again.

The guiding will, which had originally planned to bail her out if she messed up, froze in surprise—it realized this little witch might actually be a prodigy, perfectly replicating every step of its guidance without a single error.

This stirred the guiding will's competitive spirit. She accelerated again—but didn't dare push too far, only increasing from 10x to 20x.

She assumed this must be the little witch's limit—after all, she could tell the caster had zero foundation in forbidden spells.

But...

"Faster! Faster! Is this even a speed?"

Dorothy remained unsatisfied—she hadn't even reached the limit of one of her four thought streams; the other three were just sitting idle.

Guiding will: "......"

Even the kindest witch couldn't tolerate such provocation—especially one who mastered the Time Stop forbidden spell. True masters have tempers.

So...

Far away, in the Dragon Kingdom, the Radiant Domain, within the Destroyer Legion's encampment, a military meeting was underway.

"Chief Strategist Mevis, here is this month's battle report."

A black dragon witch rose to present.

But before she could speak, a terrifying pressure silenced her—she trembled, unable to utter a word.

After all, as merely a Grand Witch, she couldn't withstand the dragon aura of a Peak Witch, especially one modeled after a legendary dragon species.

Not just her—the other dragon witches in the room were tense too, all staring in shock at the small white figure seated near the front of the table.

Their legion's Chief Strategist: Mevis, the Time Dragon Witch.

"Mevis, what's wrong? Who pissed you off? I'll teach them a lesson."

Across from Mevis, a tall witch with diamond-like ornate dragon horns on her head remained calm. She waved her hand, blocking the outburst of dragon aura, letting everyone breathe again, then asked curiously.

After all, in her memory, this friend had always been as gentle as her doll-like appearance.

Hearing her friend's question, Mevis, realizing her lapse, retracted her aura.

"Ineid, you lead the meeting. I'm going to punish a reckless little brat."

The tiny white-haired girl's cheeks puffed up in anger. After tossing these words at her companion, she shut her eyes.

Inside Dorothy, the guiding will—previously at 20x—suddenly surged to 60x.

"Hmph, let's see how you like being arrogant."

Mevis's main consciousness descended here, the pouting Peak Witch waiting for this arrogant little witch to beg for mercy.

Hmm, this was her full speed—how could this little witch possibly keep up?

But wait—this little witch's mana is only 30,000 Total Mana?

Earlier, with just her avatar will, she hadn't noticed—but now, with her main consciousness present, sensing the pitiful mana within the caster, Mevis's eyes widened.

What the hell? Forbidden spell slots are only for Grand Inquisitors! How did a weakling with 30,000 Total Mana become a Grand Inquisitor?

And to touch a forbidden spell with this little mana? This is pure recklessness!

Realizing this, Mevis panicked. She'd assumed it was some arrogant Grand Witch and meant to scold a junior—but now she saw it was just a toddler. Her fury vanished, replaced by worry she might hurt the child.

So she tried to slow the guidance—but before she could act, she was stunned to find the caster still effortlessly keeping pace with her full speed.

Mevis: "......."

What the hell? Are little witches this terrifying now?

The Time Dragon Witch was utterly shocked.

"Is that it? Can you go even faster?"

Even more baffling was the caster's voice still demanding more.

No, she couldn't go any faster—this was her absolute maximum.

The white-haired dragon girl's will was crushed.

Meanwhile, Dorothy, having just engaged three additional thought loops, had been urging for longer—and seeing no further acceleration, she paused.

"Huh? Is this the limit?"

She thought, slightly disappointed.

But whatever—this casting speed is enough. The extra thought loops can study the casting process instead, so next time she won't rely on this half-assed guiding will.

Dorothy thought to herself.

Thus, the somewhat inadequate Peak Dragon girl now sat on the ground drawing circles.

What's wrong with this world? Why is a witch with only 30,000 Total Mana so terrifying? Who even is this caster?

Mevis gritted her teeth, deeply curious.

Unfortunately, as the spell slot provider, she was bound by rules—she could only offer guidance, nothing more. She couldn't probe the caster's identity, leaving her itching with frustration.

But then again—this caster's mana aura feels familiar... almost like Prince's.

Mevis recalled her liege, Lady Euphelia. This little witch's mana carried the scent of Ye Meng's family.

But before she could ask, the Time Stop spell was already complete.

When Dorothy opened her eyes again, the spear hovered precisely at her chest—the sharp tip just millimeters from her towering peak.

Yet this distance, which should have been instantly crossed, had become forever unreachable.

Sigh, sometimes having too much power backfires—too close a call.

The Seeing Zhai Zhai Wuhun pressed a hand to her chest, thinking to herself.

She glanced around—the entire arena, as far as her eyes could see, had turned monochrome. Farther out, her laughing sister stood frozen like a statue, still mid-cheer.

"Hmm, mental energy drain is much lower than I expected. After all, it's a sustained spell—based on current consumption, I can maintain it for five seconds max. But that's enough."

Dorothy calculated her mental energy drain and smiled.

Now, it's family discipline time. My foolish little one, thank you for the lesson—how should I reward you?

Then, she strolled casually toward her sister—each step appearing like teleportation, taking exactly one second.

Then gently embraced her—another second.

Then she swept her hand across her chest, consuming precious mana to open a spatial void—another second.

Finally, she adjusted the void's position to perfectly overlap with her sister's heart—another second.

And finally—the Time Stop ended.

... Time resumed...